Top 10 Employment Discrimination Charges in 2017

A total of 84,254 workplace discrimination charges were filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) nationwide during fiscal year (FY) 2017, according to the federal agency.

The EEOC said it secured $398 million for victims in the private sector and state and local government workplaces through voluntary resolutions and litigation.

The enforcement and litigation statistics are for FY 2017, which ended Sept. 30, 2017.

The FY 2017 data shows that retaliation was the most frequently filed charge, followed by race and disability. The EEOC also received 6,696 sexual harassment charges and obtained $46.3 million in monetary benefits for victims of sexual harassment.

Specifically, the charge numbers show the following breakdowns by bases alleged, in descending order. The percentages add up to more than 100 because some charges allege multiple bases:

Retaliation: 41,097 (48.8 percent of all charges filed)

Race: 28,528 (33.9 percent)

Disability: 26,838 (31.9 percent)

Sex: 25,605 (30.4 percent)

Age: 18,376 (21.8 percent)

National Origin: 8,299 (9.8 percent)

Religion: 3,436 (4.1 percent)

Color: 3,240 (3.8 percent)

Equal Pay Act: 996 (1.2 percent)

Genetic Information: 206 (.2 percent)

The EEOC resolved 99,109 charges in FY 2017 and reduced the charge workload by 16.2 percent to 61,621, the lowest level of inventory in 10 years. The agency said it achieved this by more efficiently prioritizing charges with merit, more quickly resolving investigations, and improving the agency’s digital systems.

The agency handled 540,000 calls to its toll-free number and more than 155,000 inquiries in field offices.